Luke Schenscher
| Luke Schenscher | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Position | Centre |
| Nickname | Big Red |
| Height | 216 cm (7 ft 1 in) |
| Weight | 120 kg (265 lb) |
| Team | Townsville Crocodiles |
| Nationality |  Australia |
| Born | 31 December 1982 Hope Forest, South Australia |
| College/University | Georgia Tech |
| Debut | 2008 (ANBL) |
| Previous Clubs | Fort Worth Flyers (2005-2006; 2006-2007) Chicago Bulls (2006) Portland Trail Blazers (2007) Brose Baskets (2007-2008) Adelaide 36ers (2008-09) Perth Wildcats (2009-10) |
| Championships | 2010 |
| Career Highlights | Won NBL championship with Perth Wildcats in 2009-10 First ever high school player to play for the Australian Boomers senior team Played 31 NBA games for Chicago and Portland (2005-2007) All NBL Second team (2011) 2003-04 NCAA All-Final Four Team |
Luke Dean Schenscher (born 31 December 1982) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Townsville Crocodiles in the Australasian National Basketball League.
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[edit] School/College career
Schenscher was born and raised in Hope Forest, South Australia, and played three years of basketball with the Australian Institute of Sport. He became the first high school player to represent the Boomers, the Australian men's basketball team.
He attended the Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, from 2001 to 2005, starting a majority of his career at the center position, and in the 2003–04 season along with Jarrett Jack was a member of the Yellow Jackets team which played in the NCAA championship game against the Connecticut Huskies where he received all Final Four Team honors.
[edit] Professional career
[edit] NBA
After college the 7'1" (216 cm) tall Australian attempted to make an NBA roster. He succeeded in becoming a member of the Denver Nuggets and Sacramento Kings 2005–06 pre-season rosters. He signed to the Fort Worth Flyers to play in the NBA D-League, ranking in the top 50 players for points per game and top 20 for rebounds per game. He then signed a 10-day contract with the Chicago Bulls on 5 March 2006 becoming the third Australian centre to play for the Bulls following in the footsteps of Luc Longley (starting centre for the Bulls 1995–97 championship three-peat) and Chris Anstey who played in Chicago in 1999–2000.[1] He played 12 minutes, scored 4 points and grabbed 1 rebound in his first game. He earned a second 10-day contract as soon as the first expired and was then signed for the rest of the season.[1]
It was widely believed Schenscher was to sign with the South Dragons to play in the National Basketball League as the team's first contracted player for the 2006-07 NBL season.[2] This did not happen and Joe Ingles was signed by the Dragons while Schenscher was with Chicago. On 17 July 2006 power forward Darius Songaila left Chicago to join the Washington Wizards in a $23m deal, opening up the possibility of Schenscher having a more prominent role on the Bulls, however on 30 October 2006, one day before the beginning of the 2006-07 NBA season, the Bulls waived him.[3] He returned to the Flyers for the 2006-07 D-League season.
In March 2007, Schenscher was signed to a 10-day contract by the Portland Trail Blazers, who at that time had lost several big men (Joel Przybilla, Raef LaFrentz) to injury. On 24 March, his stay with the Trail Blazers was extended with a second 10-day contract.[4] At the end of the second 10-day contract the Trail Blazers decided to sign Schenscher for the remainder of the season.[5]
[edit] Germany
During the 2007 offseason, he signed a one-year contract with the reigning German champions, Brose Baskets.[6] As the son of German emigrants, he is eligible for a German passport and therefore not subject to any restrictions on non-EU nationals in the German league. Later, he was waived due to an injury.
[edit] NBL
On 15 April 2008, Schenscher's home town club, the Adelaide 36ers confirmed that they had agreed to terms with Schenscher for a one-year deal for the 2008-09 NBL season.[7] Adelaide coach Scott Ninnis was ecstatic with the signing of Schensher: "I've received nothing but positive remarks from the public about the current direction of the club, and I am certain there are exciting times ahead. Luke only compliments [sic] the group we already have in place and anytime you add a player over 7 feet tall with NBA experience, he's going to have an impact".[7] Schenscher averaged 17 points and 11 rebounds for the season. Receiving player of the week honours twice and player of the month for jan/feb. He had 19 points and 18 rebounds against Sydney, went up against Australian Boomers and ex NBA player Chris Anstey and had 17 points and 22 rebounds in one game and 21 points and 15 rebounds in another, he also hit 37 Points and 15 Rebounds against the Wollongong Hawks and if that was not enough he poured in a massive 33 points 20 rebounds against the Perth Wildcats. He is the first player in the NBL to record at least 30 points and 20 rebounds in a game since Mark Bradtke did way back in 1992. In a coincidence, Bradtke was also playing for the 36ers at the time.
In early September 2009, Schenscher signed a deal to join the Perth Wildcats of the Australian NBL for the upcoming 2009-10 NBL season.[1] The addition proved pivotal early on in the season, with fellow big-man, veteran Paul Rogers, succumbing to a serious elbow injury less than a month into the season. Schenscher and the Perth Wildcats went on to win the NBL Championship with a 2-1 series wins over the Wollongong Hawks.
Schenscher signed on to play for the Townsville Crocodiles in the 2010–11 NBL season where he helped the Crocs to finish the regular season in 2nd place with a 17-11 record. He played in all 28 games as the starting centre and averaged 13.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 24.5 minutes per game, form that saw him selected to the 2011 All NBL Second team.
Luke Schenscher's contract with Townsville expired at the conclusion of the 2010-11 season leaving him as a free agent. He was expected to either re-sign with the Crocodiles or to move home and re-join the Adelaide 36ers.[8] Schenscher eventually chose to re-sign with the Crocodiles for the 2011/12 NBL season, with an option for the season after.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Bulls Sign Luke Schenscher to 10-Day Contract. Retrieved 6 March 2006.
- ^ Howell, Stephen (24 December 2005). "Dragons set to sign 'Big Red'". The Age. http://www.theage.com.au/news/basketball/dragons-set-to-sign-big-red/2005/12/22/1135032136833.html.
- ^ Chicago Bulls (2006). Bulls Waive Luke Schenscher. Retrieved 31 October 2006.
- ^ The Oregonian (2007). Quick: Randolph's return spoiled by Garnett, Timberwolves. Retrieved 29 March 2007.
- ^ Associated Press (2007) Trail Blazers Sign Center Luke Schenscher for Remainder of Season. Retrieved 4 April 2007
- ^ "Brose Baskets signs Aussie center Luke Schenscher". Euroleague.net. 2007-07-27. http://www.euroleague.net/news/i/14671/180/item. Retrieved 2007-08-24.
- ^ a b "Adelaide 36ers agree to terms with Luke Schenscher". www.nbl.com.au. 2008-04-15. http://www.nbl.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=74743. Retrieved 2008-04-15.[dead link]
- ^ http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/luke-perth-star-on-36ers-horizon/story-e6frecj3-1226056392355
[edit] External links
- 1982 births
- Living people
- Australian basketball players
- Australian expatriates in Germany
- Australian expatriate basketball people in the United States
- Expatriate basketball people in Germany
- Fort Worth Flyers players
- Chicago Bulls players
- Portland Trail Blazers players
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's basketball players
- Centers (basketball)
- Australian people of German descent
- People from South Australia
- Undrafted National Basketball Association players
- Townsville Crocodiles players
- Perth Wildcats players
- Adelaide 36ers players
